


Enough (For Her)

by madamehomesecretary



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Show Continuation, reflection and introspection, scenes we didn’t see, secret keeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamehomesecretary/pseuds/madamehomesecretary
Summary: She hadn’t always wanted to be Prime Minister. She had set out in her career as a barrister to help people. And that had been enough … for a time.But she was a Montague. They were “born for greater things.” Those were the words her father always reminded her of from the time she was a small girl.***Julia hides the kompromat, and then David takes her to Chequers.***
Relationships: David Budd/Julia Montague
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Enough (For Her)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DearMissV](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearMissV/gifts).



> I was doing (another) rewatch of Bodyguard, and wanted to fill in the blanks about when Julia hid the Kompromat for David to find. 
> 
> And this is what came out as a result. 
> 
> Dedicated to the lovely Miss Vee for her birthday (and for Bodyguard’s anniversary)! I’m so glad this show brought us together and I hope you have the best day! ❤️

What she was doing was dangerous, there was no doubt about that. 

This could be the end of her career as she knew it. But, she reasoned, wasn’t it her job as a public servant to do what was best for her constituents? And if she just happened to gain access to the highest seat in the country while doing it... well, the idea of that made the risk seem like it just might be worth it. 

She hadn’t always wanted to be Prime Minister. She had set out in her career as a barrister to help people. And that had been enough … for a time. 

But she was a Montague. They were “born for greater things.” Those were the words her father always reminded her of from the time she was a small girl. So it was with her parent’s encouragement that she ran for the Thames West MP seat. And she had won in a landslide. 

She didn’t think she had ever seen her father look prouder. 

He had died long before the rumors and rumbles of her becoming Home Secretary had ever started, building over time as she rose in the ranks of Parliament, making herself more recognizable for speaking up strongly for what she believed in, whether it was a popular opinion or not.

_ “I’m about doing the right thing, and making the hard choices.” _

The echo of the stern words she had spoken to her PPO that night in her flat a few weeks earlier stopped her solidly in her tracks. It was a hard choice doing this, of course. But was she doing the  _ right _ thing? 

That was a decision she would have to make, and rather quickly, too. As she inched closer and closer to her goal, she could feel the walls closing in around her, much like she had every day since the attack on her at Thornton Circus. She had always known that she was described as cold and a devisive politician, but to have someone actually try to murder her? That seemed like a viable reason to be more careful. 

She still had nightmares sometimes, hearing the bullets as they ricocheted off of her armored car. She could also hear someone shrieking in terror, and quickly realized the screams were coming from her own throat. And then the feeling of his hand in hers, as he reached blindly around the passenger seat for her, searching for her grasp and finally finding it. Him clutching her blood-soaked palm in his own as he tried to reassure her.

That was the first time those insistent, calloused hands had touched her. But it certainly wasn’t the last. 

Julia felt a warmth blossoming in her chest as she thought of her personal protection officer-turned-lover David Budd. Their pairing was not one she had seen coming. She had felt the spark and the sexual tension between them from the moment they met. But she wasn’t  _ that  _ kind of woman, she had told herself during their first meeting outside the Home Office.

No. Sleeping with the hired help was never a good idea. That was how you ended up on the cover of every gossip rag in the city. 

Then again, she reasoned, what she was doing now could very much have the same effect in the long run if it went badly. And with Vosler, it very much  _ could _ go badly. And fast. 

Focusing back on the job at hand, she sighed heavily, reaching for her cellphone. She was trusting David to use discretion. He had with everything else so far, and he had given her no reason not to trust him. Quite the opposite, actually. 

She briefly let her mind wander at that, and she chuckled to herself. Yes, she and David had certainly done things that required discretion and a certain level of trust, too. Their affair required illicit meetings behind adjoining doors, and keeping secrets, too. Something she was becoming too used to. 

Feeling herself grow warm at the memories that began to play out in her mind, she cleared her throat and looked down at her phone beginning to dial. Even just seeing his name on her screen gave her an odd sense of satisfaction. 

It took him a moment longer to answer than expected, but she internally chided herself for being so brash. He wasn’t her page boy that came running whenever she called… at least not today. She felt her lips pull up into a smirk at the thought. 

“P.S. Budd,” his tone was clipped and professional as he answered, and Julia wondered what he was doing at that very moment. She knew he had a meeting with DCI Craddock and some things to sort at the office before he joined her security team for her drive to Westminster that afternoon.

She hadn’t seen him all morning, not since she had left him at the Blackwood; she was just beginning to realize what a strange sensation that was when she found herself looking up at his usual post and not finding those intense blue eyes looking back at her. 

“It’s me,” she said slowly, her voice dropping an octave as she spoke. She felt like a spy. And she wondered what David would think if he knew what she was really up to. “I need to go out of town tonight.”

“Uh, where to?” David replied. 

He was unsure, she could hear it in his voice. Anything that deviated from a plan or routine set her PPO on edge. At least in a professional sense. 

“Get everything organized and I’ll give you the necessary information just before we set off,” she instructed, keeping her answer vague. If he knew what she was asking him to do, he would absolutely say no. And that would get her nowhere. 

“Sure.”

Short. Puzzled. Still not convinced. 

“You’ll drive. No police escort. No security vehicle,” she paused, hesitating. “I don’t want anyone to know.”

His answer was quick. 

“Julia, I can’t authorize that,” he said flatly, his voice raising slightly. It was the first time he sounded sure about anything. “You’re a target.” 

As if she needed reminding. Biting back a sharp retort, she glanced out the glass wall of her office where she saw Mike Travis chatting politely with Stephen Hunter-Dunn. The two men didn’t like each other, they had both made that obvious. But at least they were able to be civil. 

“I’m a target because of leaks,” she countered, meeting Stephen’s eyes from across the room. She held up a finger, motioning for him to give her one more minute before she spun her chair away from the window, looking out over the river. “I’ll take responsibility” 

A long pause. 

“Please, David,” she pleaded. Julia Montague wasn’t used to begging for much of anything. But the words slipped from her lips without a second thought. “You’re the only one I trust.”

And with a startling realization, she knew it was true. She  _ did  _ trust David. He had been the one constant in her life for the last month. The person tasked with protecting her life and the man who had managed to so easily take down the walls that kept everyone else out. 

He (cautiously) agreed after her pleaded confession and they made a plan. They would sneak out of the Blackwood that night after she returned from the Home Office. There was a time agreed upon, though it was understood that could change at any point depending on how her day went. 

Plus, she had to make one extra stop she couldn’t tell David about. Not yet. 

She found herself wondering again what he would think if he knew what she was really up to. How deeply she was wrapped up in the throes of a political coup. They were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum politically, of course. He had made that (and his clipped albeit professional dislike for her) clear very early on.

She glanced down at the schedule that her new assistant had left for her on her desk. She was scheduled to leave for Westminster in three hours, and had an entire slew of files to sort through before then. Not to mention preparing her speech for St. Matthew’s. 

St. Matthew’s. 

She knew she was taking a risk making such a public appearance after everything that had happened over the last several weeks, but she also knew she couldn’t stay in hiding forever. Her opponents would use it against her if she stayed out of the limelight much longer. And Tahir really seemed to think it would be beneficial for her to make an appearance to push RIPA-18 forward. Her numbers could use it. 

Looking over her schedule again, she figured her best window of opportunity would come at the end of her very long day. Julia took a deep breath. She hoped she was just being paranoid, but deep down, she knew that threats to her life were a very real reality now. And that was with only one other person knowing about the tablet she currently had hidden in her purse. Things were only bound to get more dangerous from here. 

  
The trip took ten minutes total. She had been at the Blackwood for 30 minutes when she made a call downstairs that she required her driver. Terry’s replacement, Harold something, had been at the front of the hotel a few moments later. 

Claiming she needed to grab something from her flat, she felt her nerves jump with each unexpected noise. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest, and she was thankful that her home in Battersea wasn’t far from the hotel. It was actually sort of brilliant for the police to put her into hiding so close to her own home. No one who was looking for her would ever expect that, she guessed. 

She clutched her purse closer to her body as they pulled to a stop outside Overstrand Mansion. Asking Harold to wait here for her, she glanced down at her watch. 9:07. 

Muttering a quick hello to the guard stationed outside her building, she entered the complex with bated breath, almost expecting the locks to have been changed while she was away. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Julia,” she muttered to herself as she made her way quickly up the stairs to the second level of flats, pausing briefly outside of her own home. It was strange not to be allowed back here. To have called somewhere else home for the better part of a week and a half now. 

Fishing her keys from her pocket, she pushed the door open carefully. It was as if she were stepping back in time as she looked around the entryway. Her time away had given her some new perspective as she eyed the fancy bric-a-brac that made up her belongings. What she used to consider items that made the flat “hers” suddenly seemed cold and impersonal. Ironic, considering she was living in a hotel now, and that felt more like home than this place had for months now. 

Dismissing her reflection on her current living situation, she headed straight for her study, wasting no time. She was a woman on a mission, and she had to act quickly. The idea had hit her in the middle of the day. If she was going to hide something for David to find, she needed something that would stick out. Something she could reference in passing without rousing his suspicions too much. 

Spying the silver picture frame that David had mentioned the first time he had inspected her flat, she flipped it over, sliding the back from it carefully. Discarding the extra cardboard that held the photo in place, she reached for the tablet in her bag, slipping it into the frame and reattaching the backing. 

She held the picture in her hands, feeling the weight of it. It was certainly heavier than a regular picture frame, but no one would have cause to examine it. Even if something did happen to her. Feeling satisfied with her hiding place, she placed the picture back where it had been, looking down at it for just a moment longer. 

She needed to go. 

Moving toward the door, she hesitated with her hand on the door knob as she glanced back at her home, baffled by the sudden realization that it no longer felt like home. And then it hit her. She had lived more life with David in her week and a half at The Blackwood than she had in years at her flat. The realization almost made her sad. 

Going back downstairs, she shuffled the extra bag that she had taken from the flat in her arms. It would serve as a good cover for her trip there. She looked at her watch again. 9:09.

She and David would be leaving for Chequers in less than half an hour. 

Their ride away from the city was a quiet one. David drove, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel as they rode in silence. 

“How was your day?” He finally asked, his lilting accent making Julia smile, despite the nerves she felt deep in her stomach. She glanced down at the folder in her hands, with the word ‘Confidential’ stamped across the front of it. 

“Illuminating,” she said softly, that smile still tugging at the corner of her mouth as David looked over at her arching a brow. She let her mind drift back to her thoughts she had had earlier tonight in her flat. Thoughts about the coup and her role in it swirled with her realization of how much David meant to her. Two completely opposite things that were each trying to take up space in her brain. 

She hadn’t told David she had made the trip, but she knew she would need to tell him something before he dropped her off with Vosler … just in case. On a normal day, she wouldn’t think of Vosler as an actual threat to her life, but when she shared the information she had on him … she wasn’t sure what he would do. People in positions of power did crazy things to keep themselves there.

Tentatively reaching out for the hand that rested against his denim-clad thigh, Julia grasped it in her own, squeezing tightly. 

He glanced over at her, offering her a bright smile before he turned his attention back to the winding country road. She thought about saying something then, though she wasn’t sure if it was more important to tell him how she felt or to share her concerns for how tonight might go. 

“Thank you,” she finally offered instead, her nerves getting the best of her. Julia was not one to be nervous. But she was also not one to challenge the most powerful man in the country. Or at least she hadn’t been. “For doing this tonight,” she added after a moment, looking over at David again. 

“Aye,” he responded shortly. She knew he wanted to ask questions, to find out what she was really up to. But she also knew he wouldn’t ask until she was ready to tell him. 

She could only make out his form in the darkened car, the light from the radio casting them in a sort of blue glow. His eyes met hers as they turned onto a gravel road, and he lifted her palm to his mouth, kissing her knuckles softly. 

She felt butterflies fluttering around in her stomach as the feel of his lips against her skin, and she let out a sigh she hadn’t realized was audible until she saw his mouth quirk in amusement, his eyes never leaving the road. 

“When I get you home,” he murmured, his voice dropping as he brushed his lips against her palm, lingering a little longer this time. “I’m going to kiss you all night long.”

Julia felt a pang of arousal low in her belly at his promise.

“Just kissing?” She asked breathlessly, her nails digging softly into the skin of his hand. 

He grinned. 

“We’ll see how the night goes,” he answered vaguely, and Julia almost asked him to pull the car over into a layby off the main road. But her resolve stiffened as she saw the Prime Minister’s summer home come into view, making everything else in her mind suddenly disappear. 

David felt the change in her demeanor, but didn’t comment as they approached the gate, encountering a security guard who, after a terse exchange with Julia, spoke into an earpiece. 

David and Julia exchanged a look.

“I’ve got a visitor not on my sheet,” the security guard said flatly. “It’s Lavender.” 

David’s brow furrowed as he listened to the guard instruct him where to go from here. He thought the man suddenly seemed nervous. He couldn’t help but be proud of the way Julia made grown men quiver in their boots when they encountered her unexpectedly. She was a powerful woman, and they both knew it. 

He just hoped that power wouldn’t get her into trouble. 

“Don’t mention this to anyone,” Julia said flatly, pulling her secret folder close to her body and steeling herself for the confrontation she was about to have. “This never happened.” 

David thought he saw her pause for the briefest of moments, but he blinked and her look of uncertainty was gone. 

“And if I don’t come back,” she began, “go to the Death Star.”

Her hand was on the door handle and she was already starting to exit the car before David could question her.  _ What did that mean?  _

He paled, staring at her blankly.

She raised her brow, offering him a knowing smirk before she climbed from the car. She could see Vosler at the doorway in her peripheral vision, and she faltered for only a moment before she gathered her courage. She was doing this for her country. For the people that lived there. It was her job to help people. As she closed the car door and began a brisk walk toward the imposing brick home with Vosler still looming like a shadow, she let her mind briefly flit to her PPO and the children she had heard him speak about often. She was doing this for them. 

Julia only hoped that if something  _ did _ happen to her, David would take away two things from tonight. That she trusted him, when she could believe no one else. And that all the answers he would need were hidden in a picture frame in her study, meant for him (and him alone) to find. 

“Go to the Death Star,” she had told him. 

And she knew he would. That was enough for her.


End file.
